Cheetah Conservation Fund’s International Research and Education Center

On April 4-6, 2008, Assistant Secretary of State for the Bureau of Oceans, Environment, and Science Claudia A. McMurray visited the Cheetah Conservation Fund’s International Research and Education Center based in Otjiwarongo, Namibia. The Cheetah Conservation Fund is a key partner in the Coalition Against Wildlife Trafficking (CAWT). The State Department created the Coalition Against Wildlife Trafficking (CAWT) to confront the growing threats to global wildlife from poaching and illegal trade in wildlife. This coalition aims to bring the public and private sectors together to raise awareness of the wildlife trafficking problem and to help countries work together to share information and improve wildlife law enforcement. The coalition consists of U.S. Government agencies, other governments, and private sector and nongovernmental organizations. The Coalition Against Wildlife Trafficking (CAWT) aims to focus public and political attention and resources on ending the illegal trade in wildlife and wildlife products. CAWT is leveraging the combined strengths of government and nongovernmental partners to: Improve Wildlife Law Enforcement by expanding enforcement training and information sharing and strengthening regional cooperative networks. Reduce consumer demand for illegally traded wildlife by raising awareness of the impacts of illegal wildlife trade on biodiversity and the environment, livelihoods and human health; its links to organized crime; and the availability of sustainable alternatives. Catalyze high-level political will to fight wildlife trafficking by broadening support at the highest political levels for actions to combat the illegal trade in wildlife. As a member of CAWT, the Cheetah Conservation Fund has pledged to work individually and jointly toward achieving the Coalition’s goals, acting where it can contribute most effectively. Founded in 1990, the Cheetah Conservation Fund (CCF)'s mission is to be an internationally recognised centre of excellence in research and education on cheetahs and their eco-systems, working with all stakeholders to achieve best practice in the conservation and management of the world's cheetahs. Loss of habitat, conflict with humans, as well as its own loss of genetic variation, are the main threats facing the cheetah today. The cheetah needs large expanses of land to survive, but with changes in land use and habitat pressures, such as bush encroachment, this area is becoming smaller and smaller. Unfortunately, captive breeding efforts have not proven meaningful to the cheetah's hopes of survival. Dr. Laurie Marker, the co-founder of the Cheetah Conservation Fund’s Namibia Research Center, is passionately working to save the wild cheetah through research, conservation efforts, and education. Through her work, results of studies of wild cheetahs and their habitat are used to develop conservation policies and programs to sustain the cheetah populations.